Sora's Inner Darkness
by Dante James
Summary: My own "What If" Story about the fight between Sora and Riku in Hollow Bastion.  Second fight, not the first.


This is just a short one shot I thought up one night, nothing special. Please note that I do not own the Kingdom Hearts franchise, it is owned by Square Enix and or Disney.

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><p>"So, I shall release you now princess! Complete the keyhole with your power! Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!" Those were the words Riku said before the epic battle for Kairi's heart ensued. Before Riku struck, a voice spoke out within Sora's mind, Kairi's voice. Sora snapped back into reality and guarded Riku's mighty blow. From there, a battle between old friends turned bitter enemies began.<p>

Sora and Riku swung at each other over and over; guarding each other's every blow. Sora's Keyblade vs. Riku's. Moving space inside the enclosed area was small, and with each and every strike the two came closer to bouncing off of the boundaries of said space.

Riku smiled, "Come Sora, surely you can do better than this! I'm not even trying and it seems like you're having trouble. Perhaps the darkness is too strong after all. Soon enough, it will conquer you." It wasn't possible. This entire time while Sora was giving the fight his all, Riku was toying with him; teasing him. He wasn't even using full power and Sora still couldn't gain any momentum.

"I will never be conquered by the darkness, not so long as I have to protect Kairi!" Sora said. But he was lying; he knew the chances of him winning were very slim. And without Donald and Goofy's assistance he's in even more trouble. Normally Sora would have no trouble fighting solo, but Riku was much different than any Heartless he has ever faced. Riku was the actual embodiment of darkness; he was possessed by the seeker of darkness himself and had already previously given in to his own inner darkness. He had gained so much power in such a short time, so much power that it made even Sora worried. All the power Sora could muster wouldn't be enough to overcome Riku's control of his inner darkness.

In a somehow last ditch ever to gain an advantage, Sora tried his magic for a change to see if it would have any effect. "Fire!" Riku merely slashed it out of the air with his Keyblade.

"Is that it?"

"Deep freeze!"

"Pathetic." Riku said as he side stepped the ice magic.

"Thunder!" Sora yelled raising his Keyblade into the air. Riku back flipped and bounced off of a nearby wall, hurtling himself into Sora. Sora flew onto his back with a thud, his Keyblade skidding across the floor a few feet away from him. Sora painfully rose and his Keyblade magically returned to his hand like it had always done.

"This is boring I think I'll kick this up a notch." Riku said with an angered expression.

"Perish, welcome to Oblivion!" Riku spoke while enveloping himself in darkness then rapidly slashing around the arena in a random and eviscerating manner. Riku picked up more and more speed with each slash and finally caught Sora in the shoulder. Sora spun around and was placed in the line of sight of Riku's next slash where he was then spun once more before getting sliced by Riku's next slash. This sent Sora flying in another direction where he was quickly met by yet another of Riku's attacks. This one sent him hurdling toward the middle of the arena where Riku finished his attack by slashing Sora four more times before striking the ground with a black explosion of darkness and energy. The blast sent Sora flying into the air, but he soon fell and his face met the floor. Riku chuckled malevolently, while walking over to Sora. "It is over, Sora. Just give in to the darkness, let it awaken your true power so that you can join me, and the two of us can go to Kingdom Hearts!" Riku said before stepping on Sora's head and pushing his face more into the ground.

"_Come on Sora, you're not going to give up that easily are you_?" A new voice spoke out from inside Sora. "Who are you?" Sora asked the inner voice. "_That isn't important. What is important is that you're willing to let Riku take Kairi's heart. I am NOT okay with that!" _the inner voice said in an angry tone. "But, he's just too strong. Light or no light, Riku's inner darkness is too powerful for me, I can't win!" Sora yelled inward. "_Then go deeper. Deeper within your heart and past the light!" _

"Now, Sora, release to me Kairi's heart so that I may open the final keyhole!" Riku finally said before readying his Keyblade, preparing to impale it into Sora's chest.

"You want me to use my inner darkness? You're insane! I'll be consumed!" Sora yelled at the inner voice. "_You are strong, Sora. You will not be consumed. As long as you stay focused on your inner light, the darkness cannot overcome you. You will be in complete control for as long as you hold on to that bit of inner light. No matter how little the amount, even a little bit of light can illuminate a world of darkness."_

"Sora, prepare yourself!" Riku spoke.

"_Now Sora! Do it! You must trust me! Reach deep into your heart! Past the light and into the darkness! Grab hold of it, use it! Focus on all of your emotions; it will fuel your power! Focus on the hate, the agony, the joy, the sorrow, the love! Take it all and turn it into darkness! STRIKE BACK!" _ Sora reluctantly listened to the nameless voice from within him. He dove deep into his heart, past the light and straight into the darkness. He focused on his emotions and turned everything he had into pure power. Finally, an enormous wave of energy was released from Sora. The wave knocked Riku back several feet. Slowly, Sora rose to his feet.

"What is this? What is this power! It's not possible for you to contain this much inner strength! You're inner light is too weak for this! What have you done?" Riku exclaimed in fear as Sora's power continued to rise.

"I will say it again; you'll never take Kairi's heart! This is all of my hate. All of my pain. All of my joy, and sorrow. All of my emotions combined with the darkness deep within my heart! And I'm going to use it to defeat you!" Sora began to levitate and a dark mist began to envelope his body. The mist began to cover every inch of his being. Soon enough Sora was merely a silhouette of his former self. His body was still intact, that was for certain, but he was completely engulfed in an aura of darkness. Sora's eyes opened and where once laid bright blue eyes now laid dark red orbs of hate and malice. Riku let out a laugh, "Finally, a challenge. None the less, you stand no chance against me so long as you still hold onto your pitiful light!" Riku rose to full power and a purple aura wrapped around his body, "Let's finish this!"

The two, now at a heightened strength, charged at each other once again, there clashes even more powerful now. Each hit of their Keyblade shook the entire castle in a violent manner. Neither could get a hit in on the other. Each hit was either blocked or dodged. A dodged hit left a small crater in the spot where the blade made contact. Soon enough the entire area looked like Swiss cheese.

"Do you see the all mighty power of darkness, Sora? Do you feel the power inside of you? Why not just give into it! Without the light holding you back, you would be unstoppable!" Riku said, attempting to persuade Sora over to his side.

"How many times must I say it? I will _never _give into the darkness! I will always hold onto the light, no matter what!"

"You truly are a fool, Sora. I suppose I'll have to beat some sense into you…." Riku slowly shook his head in disappointment before once again raising his Keyblade.

"Come." Riku flung himself at Sora, striking his Keyblade with enormous force, almost breaking Sora's guard. Sora forced off Riku and began to slash over and over, but Riku dodged each one.

"_Sora, you aren't focused enough! Use ALL of your emotions! What are you holding back?" _Sora knew that there was something he was keeping locked up; he hadn't tapped into all of his inner feelings. There was one thing left, a very powerful emotion; love. His love for Kairi was being held back, and as weird as it sounds, it was for a good reason. His feelings for her might be too powerful to control. What if he lost control of himself? What if he lost his grasp on the light? If the darkness swallowed him, there'd be no return. He'd be lost forever. He'd never get to see his friends again; but most importantly he would never get to see Kairi again and never get the chance to bring Riku back to his senses. "I don't know if I can do it… What if I lose control? What if I lose my sanity?" Sora asked the voice. "_Well if you DON'T use all of your emotions you'll probably be turned to complete darkness by Riku anyways. So what choice do you have" _You know that awkward moment when the voice in your head is making more sense than you, yeah, Sora was there. "So be it, I guess I have no choice." Sora dove deep down into his heart and tapped into that one last emotion. His love for Kairi would now amplify his already powerful darkness. "Kairi…If this doesn't work…I'm sorry." Sora once again activated his emotions and turned it into darkness, his power began to rise even more. However, Sora's appearance stayed the same, but his aura was far more powerful than it was before.

"Riku, it's time to end this." Sora spoke in a different voice, almost demonic.

"Ah Sora, I will finish this quickly, for your defeat will only mean a new beginning." Riku stated.

Riku began by jumping into the air then striking from above, aiming for Sora's head. Sora dodge rolled to the side and slashed at Riku. Sora's blade connected with Riku's shoulder but didn't do much damage. Riku counterattacked with a 360 degree orbiting slash that briefly knocked Sora to the floor but he recovered with ease. Sora lunged at Riku, striking from overhead, but his Keyblade collided with Riku's and Sora was bounced back. "Firaga!" Sora spoke, casting a large ball of flame from his Keyblade. The ball of fire collided with Riku, giving him some minor but painful burns, but Riku only counterattacked with his own spell which collided with Sora, casting him back.

Sora began to cast cure, but Riku flung his Keyblade and interrupted Sora's spell. The two then charged at each other; randomly slashing, every once in a while one's Keyblade would connect with the other's body and they would sustain some damage. After several minutes of slashing, stabbing, dodging, and smacking into the walls and ground of the arena, Sora finally got in a window of opportunity and slammed his Keyblade across Riku's face. Riku and his Keyblade fell to the ground with a thud. Riku got up, "Is that it?" he asked before picking his Keyblade back up. "How…pathetic…" He chuckled a little. "I didn't want to have to destroy you Sora, but if things must be this way then so be it."

Riku once again rose into the air and his body was enveloped in a purple and black aura, "The darkness with swallow your heart, Sora. Welcome to oblivion!" Riku mustered up all of his power and charged at Sora full speed with his Keyblade. "No, Riku, for as long as I hold on to the light I will never be swallowed by the darkness. I will not make the same mistake that you made!" Sora deflected Riku's attack, knocking the blade from his hand, and slammed his weapon into Riku's stomach. Riku gasped in pain as Sora's Keyblade cracked a few of his ribs. Sora released the Keyblade from Riku's stomach and slammed it into Riku's spine, smacking him into the ground.

Riku groaned, "Sora…if only you had seen things…my way."

"If I had seen things your way, Riku, I'd be in the same position you are right now." Sora put away his Keyblade.

"Heh, you and your pathetic…light..." Riku finished, before passing out.

"_Well, Sora, I guess you did it after all, time to put the beast back inside its cage." _the voice once more spoke from within Sora. Sora took a deep breath and dove back down inside his heart. He took hold of the remaining light that was left, a very small amount, and pulled himself towards it. He exhaled, his eyes returned to their bright blue hue, and the black silhouette receded back inside of his heart, where it belonged.

The barrier's closing off the outside world to the small arena had finally fallen, and Goofy and Donald were now permitted to walk into the small area. "Sora, are you okay?" Donald quacked in a concerned manner.

"A-hyuck! What happened to Riku? Is he napping?" Goofy asked, poking Riku's unconscious body with his shield.

Donald looked at Sora then at Riku, then back at Sora, then back at Riku, "What in the world happened!"

"Well isn't it obvious Donald?" Goofy asked.

"Well if it's so obvious, _you _tell _me _what happened!"

"Well obviously, Sora and Riku had a very intense game of "Go Fish!" and Riku lost so badly that he's napping it off!"

Donald and Sora quickly glanced at each other before laughing hysterically. "What? Did I say somethin' funny? Did I step in somethin'?" Goofy asked, checking his shoes for any foreign substances.

"No, Goofy, everything is fine…Everything…is fine." Sora said, before falling to the floor from exhaustion. "_Good job, hero." _"Thank you, but who are you?" _"I'll leave THAT, up to you."_

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><p><em>So, <em>that was a little twist on the fight between Sora and Riku in hollow bastion. If you enjoyed please leave a nice little review and if you found something wrong, please tell me. All constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading and sayonara.


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